During this time of the year there are few more important questions for sun-starved Northwesteners. How can one get to sun, either in the car, or in the shortest plane ride possible? This blog will provide some guidance.We start with the problem. The western side of the state is one of the cloudiest places in the country during the...
Subtropical Moisture, Record Lost, and Thank You
| comments
First, the thank you. I very much appreciate the contributions of over one hundred of you to my weather research fund. It has allowed me to fill in the financial holes for running the local weather prediction modeling research, helping to make up for losses as funding agencies reduce support. Furthermore, I am dedicating $2000...
The Christmas Day Storm
| comments
Yesterday brought quite a blow to portions of westerns Washington, with gusts reaching 50-65 mph, loss of power to tens of thousands of people, and the tragic death of a young girl. It is also an event that was underplayed by the National Weather Service, although they did have a Gale Warning out for the coast and NW waters. This is an...
The Big Shift in Our Weather
| comments
Mother nature has a holiday gift for you--a major shift in our weather pattern. For roughly three weeks, the Northwest has been preternaturally dry, you would think we were living in Palm Springs! For example, Seattle-Tacoma airport has only received .25 inches this month, 3.61 inches below normal. Yesterday, sun was nearly...
Where is La Nina?
| comments
A number of you have commented or emailed the same questions and comments that run like this:" I thought it was a La Nina year--aren't they supposed to be wetter than normal""The National Weather Service said this fall would be wetter than normal--boy did they mess up!)December is turning out to be one of the driest on record--in fact, there is a chance...
The Surface Data Revolution
| comments
An important change has occurred during the past decade that many are not aware of: a huge increase in the number surface observations. Go back 20 years ago and there were perhaps 1000 regular observations around the U.S., mainly at airports. Roughly 30-40 regular observations over Washington State at primary and secondary airports. In...
How is the snowpack doing?
| comments
The short answer: not too good. Something that is surprising in a La Nina year, when snowpacks should be above normal.Take a look at the latest snow water equivalent map for the west (this is the amount of water in the snowpack compared to normal). The Cascades are near normal due to the considerable fall received last month--but that snow...
Drought
| comments
The Driest First Half of December in Seattle History!Extremes of any type are interesting and right now we are in the midst of an unusual December drought. At Sea-Tac Airport as of Wednesday night we had only gotten .03 inches so far this month, 2.51 inches BELOW normal. Spokane has had .02 inches, 1.09 inches below normal.Checking...
Surface, Air, and Soil Temperatures: The Differences Can Be Large and Important
| comments
Meteorologists have more than one temperature reported at or near the surface and knowing the difference between them can save your live or your crops.This blog will describe them and show you some recent examples.First, some temperature 101! When a TV weathercaster gives the temperature at some location (Sea-Tac, Portland, Wenatchee, Forks,...
Fog Outside, Desert Humidity Inside
| comments
It it wet outside, dripping wet. Drizzle and fog. Relative humidity near 100%. The air is holding every bit of water vapor it can. And its cold outside as well...perhaps in the 30s, like most of the last few days.But the strange thing is that inside the air is as dry as a desert, with relative humidities down into the...
Amazing Fog Pictures and Inversions
| comments
Special Eclipse Forecast: I got up at 5 AM...and saw the eclipse begin... Last night we developed a very strong inversion and a shallow fog layer that has now mainly burnt off. At daybreak many land areas around the Sound had fog, while large areas of the Sound were clear.Here is an extraordinary picture sent to me by Tracee Geernaert...
High Pressure Produces Low Sea Level
| comments
During roughly the past week, sea level pressure has been unusually high--including the record-breaking high pressure observed on December 1 (1043.4 hPa). Here is the pressure of the last four weeks. The first three weeks had relatively normal sea level pressures (1000-1020 mb), but the last week or so, pressures have generally ranged...
